Savvy signs MOU with Neom to help games startups move “from incubation to acceleration”

Savvy Games Group and Neom have signed a new memorandum of understanding with the intention of making the path for Saudi games startups moving from “incubation to acceleration” easier.

Studios leaving the former’s Nine66 Incubator Program will now be given the resources required to move into the latter’s Level Up Accelerator.

The Saudi Arabia Public Investment Fund (PIF) is the parent organisation behind both Savvy Games Group and Neom.

“As the games industry continues to grow at a rapid pace in Saudi Arabia, there is an increasing number of programs and initiatives designed to help emerging studios and entrepreneurs to build, run, and scale their businesses,” Savvy Games Group chief of staff Amr Sager said.

“This momentum is encouraging, and the next step would be to create stronger synergy and alignment across these efforts, so that the journey is smoother and clearer for startups to identify and source the support they need. This is what our partnership with Neom is really about, and we look forward to working with the team to continue empowering Saudi studios and game makers.”

Neom’s head of gaming and executive director, Toby Evan-Jones, added: “Neom Gaming is proud to play a role in nurturing the Kingdom’s gaming ecosystem, in line with the National Gaming and Esports Strategy. From sparking interest within high schools, to investing into young gaming studios via the Level Up accelerator, it’s immensely satisfying to see the green shoots of a viable self-sustaining industry appear. We share a joint view, with Savvy Games Group, that increasing coordination around the startup journey shall benefit all parties, not least the young game makers which we support. We couldn’t be more excited about this alignment.”

Savvy Games Group was set up in 2021, while Neom, the company, was established in 2019 to develop the economic zone of the planned Neom region megaproject. The FT reported just yesterday that this initiative is being “significantly downscaled”.

Recently, it emerged that the PIF was moving $12 billion worth of games shares to Savvy Games Group.

The PIF is also one member of a consortium of investors set to acquire Electronic Arts for $55 billion and will reportedly own 93.4% of the US publishing giant if the deal completes.

Given its stakes in the other players in this group, Silver Lake Capital and Affinity Partners, the Public Investment Fund will own nearly all of the company.